WEBVTT - What is the difference between hardwood and softwood?

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<v Speaker 1>slash brain Stuff. Welcome to brain Stuff from how Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>works dot com where smart happens. H I am Marshall

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<v Speaker 1>Brain with today's question, what is the difference between a

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<v Speaker 1>hardwood and a soft wood? When we talk about a

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<v Speaker 1>hardwood floor, what are we actually talking about? As it

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<v Speaker 1>turns out, a hardwood is not necessarily a harder material.

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<v Speaker 1>It's not more dense or somehow stronger, and in the

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<v Speaker 1>same way, a soft wood is not necessarily a softer material,

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<v Speaker 1>meaning less dense or softer or less strong. For example,

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<v Speaker 1>balsa wood is one of the lightest, least dense woods.

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<v Speaker 1>There is easily dented with your fingernail and it's considered

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<v Speaker 1>a hardwood. So what's going on here. The distinction between

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<v Speaker 1>hardwood and softwood actually has to do with plant reproduction.

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<v Speaker 1>All trees reproduced by producing seeds, but the seeds structure varies.

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<v Speaker 1>Hardwood trees are angious sperms, plants that produce seeds with

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<v Speaker 1>some sort of covering. This might be a fruit like

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<v Speaker 1>an apple or a hard shell like an acorn. Soft Woods,

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<v Speaker 1>on the other hand, are gymnas sperms. These plants let

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<v Speaker 1>seeds fall to the ground as is, with no covering.

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<v Speaker 1>Pine trees, which grows seeds in hard cones, fall into

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<v Speaker 1>this category. In conifers, like pines, these eeds are released

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<v Speaker 1>into the wind once they mature. This spreads the plants

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<v Speaker 1>seed over a wider area. For the most part, angios

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<v Speaker 1>sperm trees lose their leaves during cold weather, while gymnasperms

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<v Speaker 1>trees keep their leaves all year round. So it's also

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<v Speaker 1>accurate to say that evergreens are soft woods and deciduous

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<v Speaker 1>trees or hardwoods. The hardwood softwood terminology does make some sense.

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<v Speaker 1>Evergreens do tend to be less dense than deciduous trees,

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<v Speaker 1>and therefore they're easier to cut. While most hardwoods tend

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<v Speaker 1>to be more dense and therefore sturdier, but as the

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<v Speaker 1>classification of bostil wood demonstrates, there's no minimum weight requirement

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<v Speaker 1>to become a hardwood. Be sure to check out our

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